Day / December 13, 2005

What I want for Christmas

Char has been asking me what I want for Christmas (in fact, since the name draw, so has Marjie) so I’ve been putting some thought into the issue. Unfortunately, I’ve been having trouble coming up with ideas. In fact, I’ve been having trouble getting into the whole Christmas spirit. This is odd, because I love presents. I love Christmas morning and watching people open stuff and the reactions of the kids and even sitting up until 3am putting together bikes and tables and kitchen toys with instructions written in Chinese.

So I’ve been trying to put my finger on what’s going on in my head. This morning, I think I figured it out. I was going through old posts on the blog (cleaning up the occasional ‘promotional comment’) and I came across several posts that set me thinking.

Things like Anna Quindlen’s take on parenting, and about baby Zach and his Angel wings, and Jack’s many unusual questions, and Lily’s wishes.

And then I followed a link to the photo album and found the pictures of Abby and Grace in the hospital and the day we brought them home. And the answer was immediately obvious to me. How could I possibly want anything else? When I look at the photos of these two darlings in their incubators, all those wires trailing out, and remember how impossibly tiny they were… When I think about the other babies that were there with them, some for more than a year, some who will never be healthy… When I think about Zach’s death, how quickly it happened and how little control we have over the things that really matter in life. In short, when I think of all our blessings, I realize that I couldn’t possibly be wanting for anything more.

I’m looking forward to Christmas. I can’t wait to see the kids open their presents and be delighted by the wonders. (You should see them all now, lying on their bellies watching the train go ’round the Christmas tree, clapping and saying “Yay!”) And honestly, having the family there, seeing everyone, will be enough for me.

Well, that maybe and another batch of crybaby cookies.

You just gotta laugh

I’m a huge proponent of laughter. And I also believe that we should all be able to make fun of each other, regardless of your point of view. Hey, if you can’t laugh at yourself, you’re on a quick path to heart disease, ulcers, and (quite possibly) a leap from a tall building.

So, in the interest of bringing a little laughter into your life, I offer the following headline from the Onion:

“CIA Realizes It’s Been Using Black Highlighters All These Years“

That’s an instant classic.

I like the Onion, but honestly, I think their headlines are often funnier than the articles. For instance, one of today’s headlines is:

“Voice Of God Revealed To Be Cheney On Intercom“

You don’t really need an article to follow that up. It’s funny enough on it’s own. In fact, belaboring a zinger like that with more words will likely lessen the impact. But I’m not in charge over there.

Another recent example:

“Rest Of U2 Perfectly Fine With Africans Starving“

What else needs to be said? It deftly makes fun of everyone in one sentence. Why go any further?

Now, in the interest of being fair, here’s an example that actually gets better when you read beyond the headline:

“Clinton’s Lower Lip ‘Very Concerned’ About Albanian Crisis“

Oh, man, that’s good. But the article goes on to say:

“A spokesperson for the president’s lower lip told reporters that it would be ‘protruding outward with care, yet sliding slightly upward in a show of caution and prudence.’

I’m still chuckling…